History

“The first time I visited the site, I was immediately aware of its
uniqueness…there’s the history of the place, which you can
see as well as feel. The Cole House is significant not only historically,
but also architecturally. Related agricultural buildings also date from the 19th century – all a reminder of the area’s rich agrarian traditions.”
- Richard Beard, Architect, FAIA

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Like Kisha and Jason Itkin, it was the peaceful isolation of the place
that drew Dr. Richard Beverly Cole and his wife, Eugenie, to purchase
their Diamond Mountain property in the late 1880s. It was a respite from
city life for Dr. Cole, a prominent San Francisco surgeon who served as
Surgeon General of California among other professional capacities. He
cherished the mountain site, and named it “La Perlita del Monte”
(little pearl of the mountain).

Though his busy career kept him in San Francisco much of the time, his
family lived full-time in Napa Valley, residing in the Victorian home
they built in 1889, schooling their children and farming the land. They
planted crops and orchards, erected barns and a chicken coop, and even
built a small schoolhouse. Although Dr. Cole died in 1901, his family
continued to live on the property until 1958, when the land was sold to
the Graeser family. In the 1980s the Graesers planted a 10-acre vineyard
and established a bonded winery on the property, opening a new chapter
in the estate’s history. But when the 2008 financial downturn occurred
the property sadly went into foreclosure.

It lay vacant until 2012, when Kisha and Jason Itkin founded Theorem Vineyards.